How to Know if You Love God (4)
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.—1 John 5:3
(4) Where the true affection of love to God is, it stirs up the soul to do all things that may please him. Isaac's sons saw that their father loved venison, therefore they provided venison for him (Gen. 25:28). Does God delight in a meek, broken, humble spirit? Then it will be the desire of a Christian to have such a spirit. Search in God's word for what he delights in and let us labour to bring ourselves to such a condition as God may delight in us. Love stirs up the affections of the party to remove all things that are distasteful to the party it loves. It will purge the soul; it will work upon the soul a desire to be clean as much as can be, because God is a pure, holy God, and it will 'have no fellowship with the works of darkness' (Eph. 5:11). As much as human frailty will permit, it will study purity, to keep itself 'unspotted of the world' (James 1:27). It will not willingly cherish any sin that may offend the Spirit. God hates pride and idolatry. A man that loves God will hate idols and all false doctrine. His heart will rise against them because he knows God hates it. He observes what is most offensive to God, and he will avoid it and seek what is pleasing to him. God and Christ are wondrously pleased with faith. Therefore, let us labour for faith, for all graces. Let us labour to be furnished with all things that he loves. Especially those graces that have some excellencies set upon them in the Scripture. Show me in your life what you do to please God. If you live in ways that are condemned, never talk of love. It is a pitiful thing to see in the bosom of the church, under the glorious revelation of divine truth, that men should live openly and impudently in sins against conscience, that glory in their shame. It is a strange thing that they should glory in their profaneness; that they should glory in a kind of atheistic life.
Devotional Readings taken from Puritan Richard Sibbes 'Refreshment for the Soul.'
A Glance of Heaven, Works, vol. 4, pp. 187-89
Banner of Truth has granted permission for the use of this material.
A Glance of Heaven, Works, vol. 4, pp. 187-89
Banner of Truth has granted permission for the use of this material.
Categories
Recent
'Voices From The Past' Vol. 1 — December 24
December 24th, 2024
'Voices From The Past' Vol. 1 — December 23
December 23rd, 2024
'Voices From The Past' Vol. 1 — December 22
December 22nd, 2024
'Voices From The Past' Vol. 1 — December 21
December 21st, 2024
'Voices From The Past' Vol. 1 — December 20
December 20th, 2024
2024
January
One Thing (1)One Thing (2)Our Thoughts and Desires Reveal Who We AreThe Christian's Desire for God's House (1)The Christian's Desire for God's House (2)What the Soul Was Made ForGod Makes the Heart TenderMaintaining a Tender Heart (1)Maintaining a Tender Heart (2)Maintaining a Tender Heart (3)Maintaining a Tender Heart (4)Test to See if Your Heart is TenderHow to Recover a Tender HeartBenefits of a Tender HeartKings Must Humble Themselves Before GodHow to Humble Ourselves (1)How to Humble Ourselves (2)How to Humble Ourselves (3)Proneness to PrideHumilityTrue versus False Humility (1)True versus False Humility (2)True versus False Humility (3)Both Outward Devotion and Inward AffectionWeeping for the ChurchWeeping and Rejoicing Mixed (1)Weeping and Rejoicing Mixed (2)God Hears Our Prayers--His PartWhen It Seems God Doesn't HearThe Privilege of PrayerGod Hears Our Prayers--Our Part
February
Death Is a Gathering (1)Death Is a Gathering (2)The Righteous Preserve their NationGod's Righteous JudgmentThe Importance of Knowing God Loves Me (1)The Importance of Knowing God Loves Me (2)Abundance Is Not an Accurate Sign of God's LoveRun to GodChristian UnityChrist In Us (1)Christ In Us (2)Christ In Us (3)Christ In Us (4)Christ In Us (5)Christ the Servant: the MediatorThe Bruised Reed and the Smoking Flax (1)The Bruised Reed and the Smoking Flax (2)The Bruised Reed and the Smoking Flax (3)The Bruised Reed and the Smoking Flax (4)God Knows Our FrameLittle at First (1)Little at First (2)Sometimes Tender, Sometimes Tough (1)Sometimes Tender, Sometimes Tough (2)Avoiding Unnecessary RulesThe Weaker BrotherExtend Grace to One AnotherThe Covenant of GraceThe Light of God Compared to Fire (1)
March
The Light of God Compared to Fire (2)The Light of God Compared to Fire (3)Temptation (1)Temptation (2)The Source of DiscouragementsResponding to Christ's KindnessVictory in Spiritual BattlesHis Power Not OursCourage Until the End (1)Courage Until the End (2)Our Hearts—God's TempleSin in God's PeopleSigns of God's Impending Judgment (1)Signs of God's Impending Judgment (2)Signs of God's Impending Judgment (3)Preventing God's Judgment on Our Nation (1)Preventing God's Judgment on Our Nation (2)The Ugliness of Sin (1)The Ugliness of Sin (2)Far but NearChrist's Dying Words of ComfortThe Wrong of Excessive SorrowSteps to Bring Comfort to our Hearts (1)Steps to Bring Comfort to our Hearts (2)Steps to Bring Comfort to our Hearts (3)When We Feel Our Faith Is Weak (1)When We Feel Our Faith Is Weak (2)When We Feel Our Faith Is Weak (3)Christ and the Holy SpiritChrist Is the Heart and Power of the Scriptures (1)Christ Is the Heart and Power of the Scriptures (2)
No Comments